CBOT soyabean futures sagged on Friday amid doubts that the United States and China will make major progress to resolve a trade war at the upcoming G20 leaders' summit in Buenos Aires, traders said. Chicago Board of Trade January soyabeans dipped 2 cents to $8.81 a bushel. Brazilian soyabean farmers in the key state of Mato Grosso may start harvesting their next crop before the end of December, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said, as the pace of sowing has been the fastest in history.
China has bought Brazilian soyabeans during its trade war with the United States, and the early harvest in Mato Grosso may allow China to keep avoiding US soya, traders said. China is the world's largest soyabean importer and the oilseed represents the single-largest US agricultural export to the Asian country. However, retaliatory Chinese tariffs against US soyabeans have stalled trade, threatening to leave a bumper US harvest piled up in storage or even rotting in fields.
The US Department of Agriculture said exporters struck deals to sell 120,000 tonnes of US soyabeans to unknown destinations. US soyabean export sales of 680,500 tonnes for the week ended November 15 were in line with estimates for 550,000 to 850,000 tonnes. The sales included cancellations of 66,000 tonnes to China and cancellations of 290,200 tonnes to unknown destinations, according to USDA data.